diff --git a/src/utils.js b/src/utils.js
index dd0eaa8..5b4b03a 100644
--- a/src/utils.js
+++ b/src/utils.js
@@ -27,9 +27,10 @@ function memoize(fn) {
  * @return {string}
  */
 const reduceCSSSelector = memoize((selector) => {
-  return selector.split(
-    /:(?=([^"'\\]*(\\.|["']([^"'\\]*\\.)*[^"'\\]*['"]))*[^"']*$)/g
-  )[0];
+  selector = selector.replace('\\:', '_ESCAPED_COLON_');
+  return selector
+    .split(/:(?=([^"'\\]*(\\.|["']([^"'\\]*\\.)*[^"'\\]*['"]))*[^"']*$)/g)[0]
+    .replace('_ESCAPED_COLON_', '\\:');
 });
 
 /**
diff --git a/tests/utils.test.js b/tests/utils.test.js
index 34a31dc..13b1b20 100644
--- a/tests/utils.test.js
+++ b/tests/utils.test.js
@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@ test('Test reduceCSSSelector', async () => {
   expect(f("a[href^='javascript:']:after")).toEqual("a[href^='javascript:']");
 });
 
+test('Test backslash selectors', async () => {
+  expect(utils.reduceCSSSelector('foo\\:hover')).toEqual('foo\\:hover');
+});
+
 test('Test parentSelectors', async () => {
   const f = utils.getParentSelectors;
   // Simplest possible